Let's talk undead!

[Tias]

..I'd hijack the thread about undead evolution, but I feel it would be a derail, as I'd like to talk about homebrew undead!

I made the moonstone swamp horror conversion, but that was frankly more of a golem. For my undead needs, I've devised the Ghâl! Somewhere between the living "diseased" ghoul and the demonic Ghoul of Legend, it's a classic night stalker:

Necromancy, in [my setting world], is the province of several cults and grimoires, most concerned with unnaturally prolonging the life of its human practicioners. The road to life eternal is long and fraught with dangers, the most common of which is degeneration. Men who dabble with low-strength longevity spells involving eating corpses, turn into Ghâl with time: Simple-minded half-dead horrors who roam graveyards and forest roads at night, eating newly dead carrion or the living creatures they can kill to sustain themselves.

As long as it eats fresh corpses or living flesh regularly, a Ghâl can techically live forever, but most sicken from subsisting on the meat of corpses or small animals and are dispatched by watchful rangers. They appear as they did in life, but with gaunt, greying skin, dead eyes and hands turned into cracked paws with razor-sharp claws for nails.

(3d6)
STR 11
CON 11
SIZ 11
INT 11
POW 11
DEX 11

CA 2
M 8m
Strike Rank 11

Skills: Athletics 35%, Evade 40%, Lore (as in life), Tracking 25%, Resilience 30%, Stealth 40%, Unarmed 55%

Traits: Mortal Diet*, Night Sight

Weapons:
Serrated Claw 55%, Reach M, 1d6
Bite 55%, Reach S, 1d6

* Creature subsists on human or demi-human flesh, preferably fresh. If the Ghâl cannot kill and eat a humanoid every other week, it starts losing a point of STR, CON and POW for every week after last kill. Eating corpses or fresh animals can stave off the loss, but not regain lost points, only living humans or demihumans will do. As the loss increases, the Ghâl will become sluggish and decompose to resemble a zombie-like corpse itself.

NOTE: The reader will notice the Ghâl attributes make for lower SIZ and INT than living humans. This represents the physical and mental detetoriation of most Ghâl, however, GMs are encouraged to assign high SIZ and INT scores to freshly cursed and/or powerful, well-fed Ghâl!


Please give feedback and/or share your own undead in this thread!

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Is there a reason that their stat dice ranges are different from "base-line" humans (from whom they have "evolved")?

 

[Tias]

Yes. The description notes them being "simple-minded", as I imagine most have detetoriated psychichally from eating dead flesh, and that they have shrunk in to have smaller frame than humans. Some might be on the high end for being freshly cursed or well-fed, and this is represented by rolling high on the 'third d6'

I should add to the description, that GMs are encouraged to assign high SIZ and INT scores to freshly cursed and/or well-fed Ghâl.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

After binge watching "Walking Dead" and seeing "World War Z" etc. I have decided that Zombies come in three flavors:

Type 1 Zombie "Walker"
STR: Normal
DEX: Normal
SIZ: Normal
CON: Special
POW: 0
INT: 0

No Skills or anything, they can only be killed by reducing head HP to zero, although any other part of the body that is reduced to zero HP is non-functional or destroyed/removed.

Walkers have no intelligence and have only one desire, move towards food and eat it. Food consists of any living creature. Their INT=0 means that they will completely ignore anything that is not food. So, they will walk right into a pit, through a fire, impale themselves on spikes etc. Walkers can only move at a slow walking pace.

Walkers always go last, have one Combat Action, which they will only use to move towards food or attack. They cannot Dodge or Evade. A zombie will attempt to grapple and then begin eating the flesh of its opponent.

When a zombie eats human(oid) flesh, it gains 1 POW per bite swallowed. When their POW reaches their original POW, they are full and will move away from this food and wander randomly. They will continue to chase food, but they will not eat more than one bite.

These Zombies are the typical "Walking Dead" zombie.

Once a Zombie has positive POW, it becomes a Type 2 zombie.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Type 2 Zombie (Runner)

STR: Normal
DEX: Normal
SIZ: Normal
CON: Special
POW: Special
INT: 1

Runners are zombies that have POW greater than 1. They lose one point of POW per hour that they do not feed. When their POW reaches 0, they revert to a Type 1 zombie.

Runners have normal movement and an extremely limited intelligence. They cannot use any skills as such, but given enough time, they can open an unlocked door, climb stairs etc. Runners have normal Combat Actions, but they will still not Evade or Dodge or Parry. Runners will move to avoid obvious dangers such as a pit or a sharpened stake, but they are still very smart.

Runners have enough intelligence to go after specific body parts that will gain them POW (soft tissue and the brain).

Type 2 zombies are like those seen in World War Z and similar movies.

Type 2 zombies that are able to eat some or all of the brain of a living, or still warm human(oid) can become Type 3 zombies.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Type 3 Zombies (Thinkers)

STR: Normal
DEX: Normal
SIZ: Normal
CON: Special
POW: Normal
INT: Special (Previous INT but treated as a fixed INT like an animal)

Thinkers are Runners that have managed to eat some or all of a human(oid) brain. They gain INT based on how much of the brain they are able to consume. A complete human(oid) brain will give them back their full intelligence.

Thinkers may use any of the original person's skills at 1/2 ablity level. They can Dodge, Evade, Parry and otherwise act as a normal human(oid). Thinkers also have their full compliment of Combat Actions. Thinkers are also capable of slow, slurred, limited speach. Rarely do they say more than 1 or 2-word sentences but they can think (a bit).

A Thinker loses INT at the rate of 1 point per hour until INT=1, at which point they become Type 2 Zombies. A Thinker that eats more human(oid) brains, gains INT back at about 1 point of INT per bite of brains they eat. Thinkers must also eat regular flesh to maintain their POW like a Type 2 zombie.

Thinkers are the most dangerous types of zombies and are luckily extremely rare. A Thinker can operate equipment, use simple weapons (crossbows are too complicated for them, but a regular bow is not). Thinkers can unlock doors using a key etc.

There are no movie examples of a Type 3 Zombie but you get the idea. In a higher tech setting, such as Renaissance or Clockwork & Chivalry, they can operate simple machines although they will not be able to repair something that is broken.

All zombies infect their victim when bitten. The disease is 100% contagious and if the zombie doesn't kill/eat you, you will die of the disease in 20-CON hours. Once dead, the body will reanimate and become a Type 1 zombie in 1d100 minutes after dying.

 

[soltakss]

I'd halve the DEX and Movement Rate of Walkers and Thinkers, as they are always clumsy and slow-moving.

What about the souped-up zombies that do not tire and can run really fast? They are not my cup of tea, but are a valid type of movie-zombie these days.

 

[Lemnoc]

I like the idea of variable movement rates for zombies; keeps them from becoming "background monsters," easily evaded, outdistanced and overcome.

Not so sure about "intelligent zombies," as that seems almost a contradiction in terms. "Zombie" implies a mindless, will-less creature; and at some point all this crosses into the purview of ghouls. In fact, I think ghouls have a much broader range of abilities and potential uses than do zombies, while being at times indistinguishable from them at first glance. $0.02.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Not so sure about "intelligent zombies," as that seems almost a contradiction in terms. "Zombie" implies a mindless, will-less creature; and at some point all this crosses into the purview of ghouls. In fact, I think ghouls have a much broader range of abilities and potential uses than do zombies, while being at times indistinguishable from them at first glance. $0.02.

Perhaps some zombies can become intelligent if they eat enough braaaaiiinnss...

I'd rule that a zombie who consumes the brains of sentient victims might permanently gain 1 point of INT for every 10 points of INT possessed by the victims. The brain must be fresh at the time the zombie consumes it - assume that the zombie must eat the brain within a number of rounds equal to the victim's POW or no benefit will accrue. Still, a lucky zombie who kills enough humans might gradually develop an animalistic cunning and then a spark of true sentience....

Another option - shamelessly inspired by the movie version of World War Z - is that zombies may possess a crude swarm intellect and may display emergent signs of purposeful behaviour when enough of them are gathered in one place. A single zombie is dim-witted, but a horde of hundreds can display capabilities that seem to go beyond mere instinct. If you like this approach, assume that every 50 points of SIZ in the horde increases the effective INT of the horde by +1. Thus, a group of 150 zombies would be about a smart as a dog, while a group of 250 zombies would be as smart as a chimpanzee. The swarm intelligence of a zombie horde is only effective if all members of the group are within a radius in meters equal to the number of zombies in the horde. If enough zombies are lured out of this area, the horde automatically disperses.

 

[Tias]

I think that's all well and cool enough in a WWZ-like context, where you're dealing with a hive-minded disease, but the "torrential tsunami of zombie flesh" genre would need some tweaking to work in a fantasy setting, where people (barring enormously powerful divine or sorcerous ritual) are unprepared to deal with it.

 

[soltakss]

Not so sure about "intelligent zombies," as that seems almost a contradiction in terms. "Zombie" implies a mindless, will-less creature; and at some point all this crosses into the purview of ghouls. In fact, I think ghouls have a much broader range of abilities and potential uses than do zombies, while being at times indistinguishable from them at first glance. $0.02.

Perhaps some zombies can become intelligent if they eat enough braaaaiiinnss...

The Zom-Rom-Com Warm Bodies http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588173/?ref_=nv_sr_1 had exactly this premise.

I'd rule that a zombie who consumes the brains of sentient victims might permanently gain 1 point of INT for every 10 points of INT possessed by the victims. The brain must be fresh at the time the zombie consumes it - assume that the zombie must eat the brain within a number of rounds equal to the victim's POW or no benefit will accrue. Still, a lucky zombie who kills enough humans might gradually develop an animalistic cunning and then a spark of true sentience....

They should probably lose it over time, though, to make them want to eat more brains.

Another option - shamelessly inspired by the movie version of World War Z - is that zombies may possess a crude swarm intellect and may display emergent signs of purposeful behaviour when enough of them are gathered in one place. A single zombie is dim-witted, but a horde of hundreds can display capabilities that seem to go beyond mere instinct. If you like this approach, assume that every 50 points of SIZ in the horde increases the effective INT of the horde by +1. Thus, a group of 150 zombies would be about a smart as a dog, while a group of 250 zombies would be as smart as a chimpanzee. The swarm intelligence of a zombie horde is only effective if all members of the group are within a radius in meters equal to the number of zombies in the horde. If enough zombies are lured out of this area, the horde automatically disperses.

That also fits in well with The Walking Dead http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1520211/?ref_=nv_sr_1 where a zombie swarm is far better at finding the living than individual zombies.

 

[Lemnoc]

zombies may possess a crude swarm intellect and may display emergent signs of purposeful behaviour when enough of them are gathered in one place. A single zombie is dim-witted, but a horde of hundreds can display capabilities that seem to go beyond mere instinct.

I like this idea and it rather fits with what we know about all movie zombies from Romero onward—they're attracted to noise, activity, scent of blood and are prone (like sharks) to en masse feeding frenzy. In such situations they gain a kind of pack cunning. Absent this, they become lone shamblers again. Models them fairly accurately.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I think that's all well and cool enough in a WWZ-like context, where you're dealing with a hive-minded disease, but the "torrential tsunami of zombie flesh" genre would need some tweaking to work in a fantasy setting, where people (barring enormously powerful divine or sorcerous ritual) are unprepared to deal with it.

I haven't thought through all of the details, but it might be possible to adapt the Insect Swarm rules from Monsters of Legend to handle this situation. The most dangerous thing about a "torrential tsunami of zombie flesh" is that it would have an obscene ability to grapple anything that gets in its way - and grappled victims will quickly be consumed...

 

[Tias]

The exact level of skill depends on the zombie type, I reckon. If they have one hive-mind, their grappling skills are great, if they all try to grapple you individually (and are dumb as dead wood) their skills would be worse. It's a lot easier to evade five people attempting to grapple you badly, than a ten armed wall of Einstein Zombie.

 

[soltakss]

I would think that motor skills would still be low, so grapple and bite would still be at 20-30%. However, evading three or four of them would be tricky.

We would also need a "Mobbing" tactic, as it is easy to parry or Evade a few low-skill zombies, but a lot harder when they all rush you at once, if not to grapple then to restrict your movement with their bodies. Bundle!

Skills such as Sense Living or Track would be higher, as if one senses then they all do. Rather than rolling 500 times, I would just give a higher chance depending on the number in the swarm.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Sorry for not replying sooner. Thanks for all the comments.

My intent with the Zombie posts was to come up with a game way to address the three types of zombies most commonly seen in movies and games - and to fit them together somehow.

The Thinker zombies (Type 3) are there because some films and games seem to allow zombies to do SOME things. There was that teen zombie film (can't remember the name) where when a zombie ate the brains of another, they got some of their memories and a zombie falls in love with a girl.. (stupid brain). It also provided a REASON why zombies moan "Brainssss!!!" in popular culture.

My intent was not necessarily make all these zombies work in a fantasy game, but allow them to be used in just about any genera of game within the Legend rules.

 

[Tias]

If one is interested in a variety of tools to create zombies, both from the ground up or to mirror favorite movies/settings, I can heartily recommend the classic system All Flesh Must Be Eaten.

Here, you 'build' zombie clades by picking different categories, so a super-strong, but slow and dim zombie, would have "superzombie" in strength, and "dumb as dead wood" in intelligence.

It's a whole other system, but the basic pick system could be converted to Legend with little effort.

Here's a link to an online AFMBE zombie generator: http://www.allflesh.com/zombietables.html

 

[Prime_Evil]

What immunities would you give zombies and other undead in Legend? Personally I'd rule that Zombies are immune to poison and disease at a minimum as well as spells that target their former species - Dominate Human won't work on a zombie, but Dominate Zombie might.

It would also be cool to see a concert-cast spell that lets a group of necromancers raise a legion of zombies on a battlefield or in a graveyard...

 

[Tias]

Isn't there an undead trait? I'd say immune to poison, disease (except perhaps as carriers), mind control and charm/dominate spells. I'd agree that a dedicated Control Undead spell could work, wresting control of the creature from it's necromancer.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

There would also need to be some discussions about how a zombie cannot be killed by reducing hit points to zero. Only reducing the Head HP to zero kills a zombie.

Given that many zombies would be around with zero HP on various limbs, some discussion of how they move and attack with these limitations would be good too. The normal rules don't really account for that.

Also, each GM would have to decide how viralent the bite of a zombie was for passing on the disease. In most movies etc. the bite of a zombie is 100% infectous unless you immediately chop off that limb. I'm inclined to NOT give the PC's a Resistence roll, but say "if you are bit, you become a zombie" but not everyone will agree with that (which is fine).

Also, to be considered: How long after a bite would a human(oid) take to die? How long after they die do they become a Zombie? Most movies/TV seem to use the "At the speed of plot" rule for these two times, but in a game, I think a Referee (and the players) would want something a bit more quantifiable.